Joshua T. Stalls appears in court in Jersey City for the first time on the charges of aggravated sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child and child abuse.Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal

A 35-year-old actor and instructor at a Downtown Jersey City dance school has been charged with repeatedly sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl who was a dance student and the child of friends, officials said today.

Joshua T. Stalls of the 200 block of Pavonia Avenue, made his first court appearance today on the charges of aggravated sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child and child abuse, the criminal complaint says.

The alleged incidents occurred "on multiple occasions from September to November," while he had supervisory responsibility to care for the child, or while he stood in the place of the parents, the complaint says.

Hudson County Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Debra Simon said the allegation is that the incidents occurred in Stalls' bed. The complaint says Stalls "performed prohibited sexual acts" on the girl.

Stalls was arrested yesterday and when appeared in court wearing the green garb of the Hudson County jail in Kearny, the judge informed him his bail had been set at $100,000 with a 10 percent cash option.

According to his online resume, Stalls has been a choreographer, arts instructor or music director in Jersey City, Hoboken and New York City, as well as several places in Tennessee. The resume also lists a number of theater credits and some television roles.

Information on how the matter came to the attention of police was not immediately available.

Stalls was remanded to the jail after the brief hearing in Central Judicial Processing court in Jersey City.

Any one with information on the allegations is asked to call the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office's Special Victims Unit at (201) 915-1234.